


Vertigo

by tinycrown



Category: The Batman (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rated T for some foul language usage, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25955794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinycrown/pseuds/tinycrown
Summary: After being ambushed by Count Vertigo's men, Batman's partner isn't doing so well. Green Arrow observes.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	Vertigo

**Author's Note:**

> The Batman (2004) Cartoon  
> Season 5 Episode 3: Count Vertigo

“They didn’t really use much to treat the kids that got sick, it was always just the stomach bug… but after knowing for  _ certain _ that Count Vertigo is involved, it isn’t as complicated anymore.” Green Arrow pulled himself up the ladder, hopping back to secure ground and feeling grateful to have his balance back to normal. He frowned at the silence of Gotham’s usually chaotic night, and peered back over the river to the playground where they just were. 

Count Vertigo’s men had ambushed them after he confronted Batman who was just collecting water samples with his young partner, Robin. Their approach was sloppy but the resulting fight had been a landslide. There was no way they could do battle against his men without some serious ear protection against Vertigo's metal eye, projecting waves that would inflict intense dizziness on the victim.

Batman hadn’t yet responded to him, which left him a bit agitated as he almost snapped at him so they could get a move on. Though the minute he turned, his complaints died on his tongue. Robin was doubled over completely, clutching his stomach with a pained look on his face. He was pale and near-green as his addled brain fought with his stomach as to whether he was actually being thrown around as if he were in the midst of an earthquake, or if he was standing stock still, hunched over the grass and ready to chuck up his guts. 

Robin’s sickly state wasn’t the only reason he’d gone somber- but Batman’s pinched and worried demeanor, even with the cowl, was painfully obvious. He was hovering just beside the boy, clawed gauntlet placed gently under the cape. From the subtle rustle of cloth he appeared to be rubbing his back comfortingly. Arrow was a bit surprised, the Bat didn’t seem like one to be less than freezing toward anyone, and yet he was wrong. 

Well, the kid did almost _drown,_ after all...

“Can you walk?” he muttered, already preparing to scoop the child off the ground as he slid a thick arm under his legs and wound the one resting on his back around his shoulders. Robin whined childishly in response and shook his head, leaning fully into his mentor as he clutched the boy to his chest.  Batman leveled Arrow with a glare as he brushed past him, a fast-approaching car halting to a screeching stop just as he got to the street. He placed Robin down carefully in the back, unclipping his cloak from his cowl as he draped it over the boy, who curled under it like a blanket. Arrow hopped into the passenger’s side just before the roof came back over, glancing over at the Bat.

“A doting father does a Bat make,” the archer joked, chuckling, “never expected that, to be honest. At least, not from  _ you.” _ He kept his voice low so as to not disturb the near-bedridden baby bird in the back seat.

“Expect the unexpected.” He said tonelessly, concentrated on speeding through the empty streets. Arrow figured it was Batspeak for ‘don’t ask’, and didn’t bother to inquire further. Though his increasing worries about Count Vertigo in league with the airheaded Bruce Wayne continued to whirl around in his head, knowing that he wasn’t alone in his venture was slightly comforting. 

Batman was ruthless with his cases, and he’d assume a techy-monocle wearing dickhead wasn’t going to escape that ruthless energy. Especially with his own kid affected by technology… said technology that Vertigo stole from  _ his  _ company. His teeth ground together angrily at the thought of his betrayal, but a quick stop into a large, multi-floored backlit cave kept him from stewing any further on the subject.

The top of the Batmobile drew away with a hiss, and the Dark Knight was quick to retrieve his partner from the back. Arrow grabbed his cape just as he leaped away, obviously intent on caring more for the boy than his cloak- a cloak that was, admittedly,  _ very heavy  _ and most likely resistant to many things. 

He took the pole up to the floor Bats had gone up to, already tucking Robin into a flat infirmary cot with a rather soft-looking blanket and a softer-looking pillow. Arrow draped the cape on the backside of the chair just in front of a large control panel and screen, stepping away just as Batman pat the boy’s shoulder and turned to the computer, drawing up a map, similar to the one the nurses had made about the sickness turn-ups. All of the dots pointed around Wayne Labs. 

Arrow’s brow twitched. No  _ doubt  _ Bruce Wayne was involved. Making all those poor kids sick. 

Batman mumbled something into a comm on his wrist, he could distinctly hear the words ‘nausea aide’ and nothing more. Who was he even talking to? 

Robin abruptly gave a pitiful moan and curled into a tight, tiny ball under the blanket, his face turning a little  _ too  _ green. Arrow searched desperately for any sort of bucket and saw a bowl tucked under one of the tables- though by the time he went to dart for it, Batman had him beat. He blocked the boy from Arrow’s view, a shallow metal dish quickly placed onto the table and a clear series of gross  _ plats  _ followed, petulant whimpering heard only moments later. The archer winced. Poor kid. Stomach fighting with the brain, never a good mix. Painful, too, if there wasn’t much in his stomach to discard. 

The boy flopped back down and Batman was quick to discard the waste and rinse out the bowl, leaving it by the boy’s head if he needed to throw up again. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked, his voice soft as he drew the blanket up over Robin’s shoulder and squeezed. The boy turned halfway to face him with a grimace. 

“You know that time I caught the flu? That’d be an improvement right now…” He coughed, turning back over. The crusader kept his hand on his shoulder and rubbed his arm softly, trying to ease his intense discomfort somehow until whoever he was talking to arrived with the proper medication. Arrow tilted his head.  _ Bats really cares about that kid, huh? I was joking earlier when I said ‘father’ but… maybe I wasn’t wrong. It would make sense, he looks young enough to be in the third grade.  _

Arrow snapped from his stupor as Batman drew himself reluctantly back to the computer, growling frustratedly as if the map made no sense. It made perfect sense to Arrow, but he was confused as to why Bats was so certain Bruce Wayne had no idea of Vertigo’s schemes around his Labs, or possibly  _ in  _ them. 

There was a sudden hiss from behind and Arrow whirled around, an older man in a suit marching out of an elevator carrying a metal tray, a slim cup with fizzing liquid inside perched atop, a little capful of red liquid beside it, and a few pills next to that. Batman had a butler? And why did he look so damn  _ familiar? _

“Sir, I brought the medicine you requested-oh,” the old man paused, mildly surprised, “Excuse me, I didn’t realize we would be having company.” 

“It’s alright, Alfred.” Batman consoled him gruffly, tearing his gaze from the map to the man. 

“Haven’t I seen you before?” Arrow inquired with a furrowed brow, noting the butler’s pensive look as he stopped in front of him. 

“Perhaps the Renaissance Fair?” he quipped curtly, brushing past him. Arrow narrowed his gaze at the familiar mustache and receding hairline, as well as his gaunt face. Add a cap and gloves, and the picture was suddenly clear. 

“Wait- you were the driver in that limo- the limo that belonged to…” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.  _ “Bruce Wayne.”  _

The Bat turned to glare as he pulled down his cowl, his cape now reattached- apparently when Arrow wasn’t looking. He was the stark picture of Wayne, with the dark hair and blue eyes and brooding stature. Arrow wasn’t sure how he hadn’t put two and two together sooner. Only Bruce Wayne could afford to have so many gadgets and manage two separate lives.

_ “Now  _ do you see why I’m so sure of him?  _ Ollie.”  _ He ground out, folding his arms. The archer’s brows raised to the sky, shocked.

“Hey! How did you even know?” He was expecting him to point out the mustache, but the reply came from his butler instead.

“He  _ is  _ the Batman.” Alfred reminded him, passing the cup to Robin as the boy finally tore off his mask, revealing a sickly-exhausted Dick Grayson, Wayne’s little circus kid. Papers broke the story a little while ago, and it had made him angry back then- having his previous opinion of Wayne as a boorish airhead only obsessed with girls and money, he could barely stomach the thought of Wayne using the boy as a charity case ploy for a media-frenzy and a character boost. But it was clear from how he acted that  _ that _ wasn’t the case at all. 

Arrow was just a tiny bit embarrassed, and a tiny bit ashamed. Only a  _ tiny  _ bit, though. Bruce was still a pompous prick sometimes. 

“It seems as if this man with the metal eye is someone you know,” Batman turned toward him with a knowing look as he switched topics with a suavity he would have taken a double-glance at if it weren’t for his day job, “what’s the deal?” 

Arrow regaled them with the tale of Vertigo being a previous scientist for his company and his betrayal via stolen technology, ultimately stranding him on an island for years, forcing him to learn how to survive and ultimately how he learned to use the bow. After he had found help by shooting a flaming arrow at a tugboat and returning back to Star City, Vertigo had all but disappeared… until people, mostly kids, started getting sick around Wayne Labs with the symptoms similar to intense, but temporary vertigo. He had picked up the case again.

“After that, I’d figured Bruce Wayne had teamed up with him-” 

“He’s  _ stealing  _ from me,” The impatient crusader corrected, obviously displeased by Arrow’s brazen assumptions about his character. “He sent his men after you tonight to make sure you didn’t figure out what he was doing.” Arrow snorted, reaching for the bow he’d left leaning against the Bat’s computer. 

“Well,” He plucked the string, “I’m goin’ back anyway.” 

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, though he spared a glance at his partner. A wave of sudden anger returned to his stance. Right, Vertigo could have killed Robin tonight. Drowned him. Batman most likely wanted a bit of revenge for that.

“Not without me.” He said finally, a gravelly edge to his tone that implied  _ ‘no arguments’.  _ Arrow felt his lip quirk upward as he nodded. 

He leaped down back to the Batmobile, sparing one last glance up at the Bat and his sick bird, noting the parentally concerned look on his face and turning away to give them some privacy. They’d get justice for him, those sick kids, and the Bat’s partner, too. Vertigo wasn’t going to get away with it- and he was  _ certain  _ Batman would make sure of that. 

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to write a little tidbit in the midst of the episode where there's a little fluff in Batman taking care of Robin. We didn't get to see the direct aftermath of the ambush and Robin nearly drowning, so I thought I'd add that, too. Also, Ollie being the ever-observing blockhead we all know and love. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
